How do you choose your parts for original songs?

[scottasin]

So I'm finding some difficulty writing specific repeatable keyboard parts for a band I've been playing with for a little bit now. In the past I've played with prog influenced jambands, a not at all serious cover band, and one totally acoustic folk band. The most recent band I played with for about 4 years and with them exclusively. Often times, the other instruments parts were so complex that I was often only able to FIND a single line or chord that sounded right, and I'd stick with it and it would become the keyboard part for the song. The music was very difficult for my ear, and I also wasn't on the same technical level as the other players. Aside from that, there was a lot of freedom allowed in your playing for many parts of the songs, and I never really held onto more than a few of chords I'd always throw in, a few licks that'd come up pretty often. In those sections though, there was a LOT of improv.

 

My most recent band is a more classic sounding (although not entirely) folk rock band. Normal verse/chorus structures, vocals at the front and center of the sound (although there are fun soloing spots aplenty). This music is really what I love playing, and I'm pretty good at it. Problem is, its very hard for me to choose one line I've comped over another. When I first joined I was very excited to sit down and write parts with our mando player, get some more specific stuff worked out. Our guitar player then went on a booking spree before we'd really prepared the music, we had a bassist and a percussion player join the band, and we've pretty much been getting comfortable with the structures of the songs with them and preparing setlists for shows. We haven't yet had a chance to work on interlocking backing lines. Coming up we've got 6 weeks with only 2 weekends of shows and we want to record a basic demo for booking purposes and to give out at shows. I want to use this time to really lock in at least a few of the songs.

 

I know that a looser comping feel works well in this kind of music at times, but I don't want to be doing it all the time. How do you guys choose what parts you're going to stick with? Obviously its all about framing the vocals and making space for the other instruments, but nonetheless I feel a lot of options at this point and don't know how to whittle my playing down. Myself and the mando player have also had a good amount of indecision on who's taking the more notey part and who's taking the more rhythmic part and I want to clear that up, it makes things really cluttered and offbalanced when things don't line up right. Locking in parts will do that.

[J. Dan]

What about doing some rough recordings of a few different options and sharing it with others for feedback? Sometimes a fresh set of ears is all that's needed.

[S_Gould]

I almost always make a rough recording of the tune (minus keys) and listen to see what it reminds me of. If it calls to mind a specific band, I'll ask what would THEY do on keys? If this isn't appropriate, (like, it reminds me of AC/DC) I'll start thinking texture. What kind of sound would add to this song? If there's no rhythm guitarist, I might try some chords, 2 note parts or short licks that one might play. The key is to think like an arranger, not a player.

 

Or you could ask the song's writer(s) what they had in mind.

[Stokely]

I was going to say, my times in original bands I generally had to deal with some pretty--nay, very!--specific wants and needs from the songwriter...unless the songwriter was me, I'm more of a "you guys try some stuff and let's see how it works" writer.

 

I respect people who have the entire song in their head, right down to the patch sounds, but it makes it tough to work out parts sometimes when you hear something that might work and it conflicts with their "head recording"!

[Synthoid]

The key is to think like an arranger, not a player.

 

This.

 

Listen to some of Richard Carpenter's song arrangements... especially from the early years.

[scottasin]

I was going to say, my times in original bands I generally had to deal with some pretty--nay, very!--specific wants and needs from the songwriter...unless the songwriter was me, I'm more of a "you guys try some stuff and let's see how it works" writer.

 

I respect people who have the entire song in their head, right down to the patch sounds, but it makes it tough to work out parts sometimes when you hear something that might work and it conflicts with their "head recording"!

this guy is not that type at all. He's got the words and the melodies, but other than that he's happy to hear other people's personalities supporting what he's written. I've heard very different sounding versions of the same song from his archives.

The key is to think like an arranger, not a player.

 

This.

 

Listen to some of Richard Carpenter's song arrangements... especially from the early years.

I've never dug into The Carpenters, perhaps now's the time.

[BbAltered]

1) Ask the song-writer what they want, and do that.

 

2) You say in this case the song-writer has no specific instructions for you to follow. So in the absence of instructions you are free to do whatever. Some things to try:

- do nothing - maybe the best piano part is silence

- play the melody

- play a counter-melody

- do what the bass player is doing

- figure out harmonies (chords) that support the melody, and play those chords at the appropriate moment as the melody moves along

- play a rhythmic figure that supports the melody

 

In the usual course of things, the song-writer or band-mates may not have instructions on what to play, but will almost certainly let you know if they don't like what you are doing. So one approach is to try a variety of stuff, and when someone says "gee, that sounds bad" you stop including that thing in your playing of the song - sort of coming up with a part as a process of elimination.

[MathOfInsects]

Thirding the "arranger" approach.

 

As a songwriter/composer, my process is to write the song, then completely unwrite whatever my piano part has been and approach the song fresh, as I would if I hadn't written it. Sometimes that means no keys at all, sometimes a very simple or sparse part, sometimes a whole new compositional exercise focused around creating the keyboard approach.

 

As a sideman for singer-songwriters (my preferred gig, if I'm choosing), I see my part as "finishing" the song the writer started--bringing it something or somewhere that was written into it but not yet drawn out of it. Again, that can mean saying, "Are you sure you want keys on this? It's really lovely as it is." Or it can mean saying, "I think I'll pad the chorus with organ, then let the verses breathe." Or, on the more compositional end, it can mean saying, "Can I try something on this? I think there's room for a 'part' on this one, and I hear some things that might fit."

 

One rule I have for other players on my stuff, that I try to bring to other people's stuff, is: no playing the changes. Don't read this as a chart, write yourself into the fingerprint of the song. Be adventurous (but not attention-y). I want your isolated part to be as much "the song," as the complete song is.

 

Easier said than done, of course, and you have to get there through a straighter path or people jump right to goofy. But that's the end-point I always have in mind for my own stuff, and (therefore) for the stuff I play on for others.

 

 

[WesG]

Here's a trick: lay out on the first verse and chorus.

 

It's a great arrangement trick, I stole it from Cropper and he played on more hits than you can shake a stick at.

[TommyRude]

These are all good ideas. I would humbly agree that less is more. And if you can envision unexpected parts and rhythms and execute them in a subliminal manner, that's cool. And for the OP, if you catch a streak of magic and make the songs better than before you were there, then good on you.

[MorayM]

And again for less is more! My normal tactic is to lay down the first take as MIDI, delete about half of the notes, then record a second take using it as the starting point. That way I'm not overplaying, but what I've got is still natural and interesting.

[Threadslayer]

And again for less is more!

That's an important lesson and one that comes with (musical) maturity I think. One of the nice things about playing in a band is that you can - and probably should - stop playing altogether every so often, and let the song breathe a little.

[synthizen2]

I feel very fortunate to be in a band where the main songwriter really values what I do with his tunes, and he places a lot of trust in me that I'll give the song the correct keyboard treatment (both in playing style and selected sounds). He never says things like, "I think this section needs more organ, while the verses need more honky-tonk piano" and such. He just trusts that I'll get it right, loves what I do, and has never been critical of how I approach his tunes.

 

Really, it's just about being a musician and getting the feel of a tune. Something that he writes might remind me of, say, an old Tom Petty tune or something ... so I know exactly what keyboard ingredients to add to flesh the song out. A long history of listening to popular music (and a good memory) really helps.

 

Also, I often adhere to WesG's idea of laying out on the first verse & chorus (well... I sometimes like to sneak in some B3 padding on the first chorus).